Ashes of stolen time
by MedusaOfTheSpecies
Summary: Bellatrix is no angel, but time is no savior. Alternatively, how Bellatrix Black ends up in 1926, just in time to witness the only person she has ever followed be born. :: Bellatrix raises Tom AU, Time Travel :: Written for Snarky's 'Through Time' challenge.
1. Revival

Bellatrix laughed manically as a green spell nearly hit Potter's blood traitor of a girlfriend. It was about to become an amazing evening for her, the day her Lord won against the Potter boy and took over magical Britain.

Suddenly, a spell almost hit her and Bellatrix turned around, scowling. So the blood traitor's mother had decided to come out and play?

Well, Bella did like games and she grinned madly, shooting back a spell in return.

They dueled for a few minutes before the grin faded of Bella's face and she began to fight in earnest. The ground shook from the sheer force of the magic in the air and a crowd began to form, fascinated bystanders admiring the two woman.

And then, it almost happened in slow motion. Bella slipped, the edge of her robe snagged on a rope and the world turned a vivid green.

 _(And here's where this story should end.)_

 _(But it doesn't.)_

* * *

Bella awoke in the guest room of the old Black home. Cobwebs adorned the walls and Bellatrix scowled at the state the former palace had been reduced to. If she was dead, couldn't her last sight be a place with better decor?

Suddenly, a voice disrupted her enraged thoughts.

"Hello, Bellatrix." Said the voice of the last man Bellatrix ever wanted to see.

Even dead, Sirius Black had an air of careless beauty, and the same grey, cold, dead eyes the Black family was known for having.

Bellatrix glared. "Black. What are you even doing here? It's not like you ever respected this place when you were alive."

Sirius scowled back. "Well cousin, you took care of the living part for me."

Bella's hand reached down for her wand and she glared down upon realizing she didn't have one. "Enough of these games, Black. Cut to the chase, am I dead or not?'

Sirius paused, smiling wickedly at his cousins growing rage. "That depends on you, beloved family member."

"I am not your beloved anything." Bellatrix screamed. "Now, answer before I curse you into oblivion!"

Sirius raised his hands in a warning. "Well, that really does depend on you. You have a choice: due to your obsession, I'm here to offer you another chance."

"A chance at what?" Bellatrix asked, curiosity overriding her anger.

"Well, I can't exactly send you back to your time since you've done a spectacular job fucking it up," Sirius said, running a hand through his hair. "But I can give you another chance somewhere else."

"I'll take it." Bellatrix said immediately, her face lit up with a cruel glee.

"Goodbye then." Sirius said, waving his hand with no real concern and then the world was gone again.

* * *

Bellatrix awoke on the cold ground, her belongings scattered around her like ashes of a burned world.


	2. Wool's orphanage

Bellatrix dusted herself off, instinctively grabbing for her wand before remembering she didn't have one. Yet.

Turning around to make sure there weren't any of those filthy muggles nearby, Bellatrix mumbled one of the few wandless spell and watched as all the things scattered around her folded themselves neatly into the suitcase that had seemed to be lying around like it was meant for her. It was one of the few actually useful things she had picked up from her frivolous socialite of a mother.

Yes, if there was anyone she was less like it was her mother, a woman who had no real talents other than spending the family money. Bellatrix on the other hand, had been somebody important, the dark lord's most faithful servant.

Speaking of the Dark Lord, it was time for her to rejoin him, Bellatrix decided. But first, it was time to figure out where and _when_ she was.

Looking around, Bellatrix approached the nearest person. A teenager a few meters away who looked homeless and filthy.

"You!" Bellatrix barked and the boy turned around, his eyes widening in fear before they sank into lust as he admired Bellatrix's body.

"Yes?' The boy asked boldly, waggling his eyebrows at her.

"What year is it?' Bellatrix demanded, ignoring the unseemly behavior. She was a woman on a mission and she would not let herself get distracted.

"Not sure at this point." The boy said drunkenly, rubbing his neck with a small smirk. Bellatrix glared.

"I suppose you want the address too? Well, you're out of luck, darling. Nothing here but that creepy orphanage." He finished, pointing at a nearby building.

Bellatrix looked the direction he was gesturing to and nodded. Perhaps she would find a better source of information in there.

"You're dismissed." Bellatrix said carelessly, waving him away with her hands before walking up to the orphanage, suitcase in hand.

Upon entering the building, Bellatrix was greeted by the sound of screaming and a tired sign. Inside, there were kids running wild while woman ran after then, screaming and cursing.

Regardless, Bellatrix approached the secretary at the front determinedly.

"Hello there." Bellatrix said, her voice as buttery smooth as her mothers.

"Yes?" The bored woman answered before tacking on a quick "Ma'am," upon seeing Bellatrix's wild appearance.

"What date is it? Where is this?" Bellatrix questioned, ignoring the weird look she got in response.

"January 1st, 1926. You are in Wool orphanage." The woman replied, unfazed but slightly curious.

It felt like all the air had disappeared from Bellatrix's lungs. If it was 1926, and what Potter had said was true- if her master was really named Tom Riddle, a halfblood son of the Slytherin line, then it meant he might not even be born, let alone in this grimly orphanage yet.

And even if he was, did she want him? He was a mudblood, everything she was against but she remembered the sheer magic he had contained, the way he turned his army into an empire. The Dark Lord had saved her from a life as Ropdolphus's trophy wife, and for that she owned him.

"I am here to adopt a child." Bellatrix said, her heart beating so hard it was painful, a tight constricting force around her rib cage. "My nephew. His name is Tom Riddle."

The woman started at the name. "That one? I thought he had no living relatives..."

Bellatrix waved her hand haughtily, sticking her nose in the air. "Well, clearly he does."

"I'd need to see your papers then." The woman replied, looking far more humble after hearing Bella's tone of voice.

It should off ended there. Bellatrix had no magic to channel, no unforgivables, but her hands guided her in a magic of her own until she had her suitcase open and was handing the woman a set of filled out papers.

Then woman glanced at the papers, her fingers tracing the words. "Ms. Trixie Black? I shall get your nephew in a second."

"Yes, you shall." Bellatrix said, trying desperately to not think of the one person who called her Trixie, who had given her a second chance. He might have been a fool and a muggle-sympathizer, but Sirius had saved her, his family, in the end.

Now, she just had to prove herself worthy and raise her lord in a way that was fitting of someone of his caliber.

 _She had to raise him in a way worthy of someone who had saved her life._


End file.
